Overview

Whether a group wants to write a comprehensive strategic plan or design the steps for project implementation, there are promising practices for this type of work.

This one-day course will explore the planning process for transitioning an idea into reality.Each participant will receive a planning notebook that will guide his/her work with any organization or community work group.

Resource URL

Speakers

Megan M. Seibel

Dr. Seibel is the inaugural director of the VALOR Program at Virginia Tech, which is dedicated to fostering leadership and capacity building for Virginia’s largest private industries. As an Extension Specialist, Dr. Seibel offers experiential program content around leadership best practice in education, workplace, and grassroots organizational settings. Team ... Read More

Dr. Seibel is the inaugural director of the VALOR Program at Virginia Tech, which is dedicated to fostering leadership and capacity building for Virginia’s largest private industries. As an Extension Specialist, Dr. Seibel offers experiential program content around leadership best practice in education, workplace, and grassroots organizational settings. Team dynamics related to the exploration of issues and influence on policy development provide context for stakeholder development and advocacy as outcomes of decision making and problem solving leadership around complex issues.
Dr. Seibel is the Associate Director for the Center for Cooperative Problem Solving (CCPS) at Virginia Tech and an Associate Fellow of the Occupational Research Centre in the U.K. Utilizing Kirton’s Adaption Innovation Theory and associated inventory, the KAI, Dr. Seibel is one of three recognized certification course instructors for academic and practitioner use of the KAI. The CCPS is currently the only location in the world to receive practitioner certification for this problem solving theory. Additionally, Dr. Seibel utilizes the KAI with coaching of state-level educational supervisors, practitioners, community leaders, and student organizations to enhance effectiveness in program and service delivery.
Most recently, Dr. Seibel took administrative leave from the university to serve as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry in the last 16 months of Governor McAuliffe’s administration, where she oversaw industry studies and development of proposed policy for the secretariat, while supporting related to food and health initiatives of the First Lady’s office. She is a graduate of the Virginia Executive Institute at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Her background and expertise in healthcare, career and technical education, and outreach educational programming invigorate her passion for community development and considering complex issues that incorporate all three of these paradigms. A co-author on numerous publications related to leadership and community programs, Dr. Seibel uses scholarship as a way to bring ideas to life through practical application.
Megan received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from James Madison University, her Master of Science in Career and Technical Education from Virginia Tech, and her Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Extension Education from Virginia Tech. Read Less

Martha A. Walker

Martha A. Walker serves as one of four Community Viability Specialists with Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) and is a faculty member in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Dr. Walker joined VCE in October 2005 after serving for 28 years with ... Read More

Martha A. Walker serves as one of four Community Viability Specialists with Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) and is a faculty member in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics. Dr. Walker joined VCE in October 2005 after serving for 28 years with the Virginia Community College System at Danville Community College. In her role with Extension, Dr. Walker works with counties and cities throughout Virginia as well as multiple state agencies. Since joining Extension, Dr. Walker has provided support in assessing community needs, facilitating community-based action plans, and identifying resources from Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, and other state and federal agencies. Her work is directly linked to and supported by Extension agents and university faculty.
Dr. Walker launched Virginia Cooperative Extension’s grassroots leadership program, Innovative Leadership: Building Community Connections, an 18-hour training focused on building leadership skills and knowledge. Building on the success of the leadership program, Dr. Walker and her colleagues adopted the University of Maine’s Strengthening Your Facilitation Skills program and trained master trainers to teach the program throughout the Commonwealth. In addition, Martha co-teaches the Virginia Association of Counties’ County Supervisor Certification program and engages leaders throughout Virginia in facilitated discussions and decision-making processes.
With Dr. Walker’s leadership, Virginia has been recognized as a Stronger Economies Together state in both 2013 and 2015 engaging six regions in economic discussions and planning. Over the past ten years, Dr. Walker has published numerous Extension resources, hosted the Energy Resource Guide for Virginia website, collaborated with partners to secure $1.2 million in grant for bio-energy production and commercialization, obtained a $50,000 gift and coordinated the publication of “Welcome to the County” a book on life in rural Virginia, and secured over $600,000 in funding from the Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Revitalization Commission for the agricultural energy efficiency program.
In 2015, Martha received the Virginia Tech Alumni Award for Excellence in Extension (Individual Specialist).
Dr. Walker has a Bachelor’s degree from Averett College, a Master of Science degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy from Old Dominion University. Read Less